🇪🇸
Madrid
Spain
Spain's capital — museums, parks and endless nights.
🇨🇿
Prague
Czech Republic
Fairytale architecture and a legendary beer culture.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Madrid
€1,050–1,400 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇨🇿 Prague
€900–1,150 / month
Best for
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Students looking for a large international city
- Those who want to travel frequently around Europe
- People interested in academic and professional opportunities
Best for
🇨🇿 Prague
- Students who want to travel constantly around Europe
- Those looking for a very active social life
- People interested in an intense international experience
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇪🇸 Madrid
🇨🇿 Prague
Expensive
Cost of Living
Affordable
Very High
Nightlife
Very High
Very Good
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Outstanding
Tight
Housing
Comfortable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
Student insights
🇨🇿 Prague
- Exceptional location for travelling
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Madrid
“Madrid is a city that never sleeps.”
Student voice — 🇨🇿 Prague
“I cannot recommend Prague enough.”
🇪🇸 Madrid
Pros
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
- Wide cultural and leisure offer
- Great networking and career opportunities
Cons
- Very expensive rent
- High cost of living by Spanish standards
- Large, sometimes overwhelming city
- Longer daily commutes than in mid-sized cities
- Less sense of student community than in more compact destinations
🇨🇿 Prague
Pros
- Exceptional location for travelling
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
- Reasonable cost of living for a European capital
- Historic and culturally fascinating city
Cons
- Cold, dark winters
- Mass tourism in some areas
- Rising rental prices
- Bigger language barrier than in Spain or Portugal
- Fewer hours of sun for much of the year
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.